Jury

Dame Mary Archer has chaired the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum Group since 2015, and earlier served as a Group trustee (1990–2000). She is a chemist by profession and has taught the subject at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and Imperial College London, where her scientific research interests centred on sustainable energy production and solar energy conversion. She is a Companion of the Energy Institute and was awarded the Institute’s Melchett Medal in 2002 and the Eva Philbin Award of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland in 2007.

Dame Mary has had a long association with the NHS, and sat on the board of Cambridge University Hospitals, 1993–2012, chairing it from 2002 to 2012. In 2012, she was appointed DBE for services to the NHS. She is an Honorary Liveryman of the Fuellers’ Company and an Honorary Member of the Salters’ Company, and holds honorary DSc degrees from the Universities of Hertfordshire and Bradford and Imperial College London.

Sir Ian Blatchford was appointed Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group from 1 November 2010 and combined this with the role of Director of the Science Museum from December 2010.

Previously Sir Ian was Deputy Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, after having joined as Director of Finance & Resources. Previous to that he was Director of Finance at the Royal Academy of Arts.

He read law at Mansfield College, Oxford and holds an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Sir Ian is Chairman of the National Museum Director’s Council. He was Chairman of the Governors of De Montfort University from 2011 – 2018. He was awarded the Pushkin Medal in 2015 and was awarded a Knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to Cultural Education.

Born in Germany, Gitta Gschwendtner moved to London in the early nineties to study design at Central Saint Martin’s College, Kingston University and the Royal College of Art. Following graduation from the RCA Furniture MA in 1998, she set up her independent design studio specialising in design for buildings, installations, exhibitions and furniture.

Gitta Gschwendtner’s studio focuses on conceptually rigorous, visually intriguing, functional design across the disciplines of architecture, art and design. The studio has realised innovative projects for clients such as the Science Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Wellcome Trust, the British Council, the British Museum, the Southbank Centre, Guy’s Hospital and the National Trust.

Zoe Laughlin is a co-founder and Director of the Institute of Making. She holds an MA from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design and obtained a PhD in Materials within the Division of Engineering, King's College London. Working at the interface of the science, art, craft and design of materials, outputs range from formal experiments with matter, to materials consultancy and large-scale public exhibitions and events with partners including Tate Modern, the Hayward Gallery and the V&A. Her work has been shown in London’s Science Museum and is included in the new permanent collection of the Design Museum. Along side this, Zoe also presents television programmes for the BBC, is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Kitchen Cabinet and a can often be found pushing the health and safety limits on ITV’s This Morning.

Karen Livingstone joined the Science Museum Group in 2011 as its first Director of Masterplan and Estate, responsible for creating an ambitious Masterplan for each of the five museums in the Group. She oversees a large portfolio of architecture and design led projects and the transformation of the largest museum estate in the UK, while also playing an influential role in major city Masterplan developments such as York Central.

She is an experienced and passionate client of architecture and design in museums. The architects she has commissioned at the Science Museum Group to date include Zaha Hadid Architects, MuF Art/Architecture, HAT Projects, Carmody Groarke, Wilkinson Eyre, Mary Duggan Architects and Coffey Architects.

Karen began her career as a curator, at Aberdeen Art Gallery and then the Victoria and Albert Museum. She became Head of Projects at the V&A, where she built up a track record of directing and delivering multiple award-winning capital projects.

Judith McNicol became the Director of the National Railway Museum in 2017, with a remit to deliver the museum’s ambitious redevelopment, including Locomotion in County Durham. Judith also sits on the Strategic Board of York Central, the city centre regeneration that unlocks the opportunity for Central Hall.

Judith’s career is rooted in engineering, starting a machine tool company in her 20s. This passion for engineering drives her to inspire young people to discover the possibilities in design, invention and innovation. She has a keen interest in how people respond to spaces, their design and function.

Judith has lived in York for almost 20 years, and is committed to its continual evolution as a city with the highest architectural quality developments for its people and visitors.

Son of architect Raglan Squire and grandson of poet Sir John Squire – founder of the Architecture Club – Michael studied architecture at St John’s College, Cambridge, under the tutelage of Sir Leslie Martin and Sir Colin St John Wilson. Following a period working with his father on projects in Jakarta and Bahrain, Michael founded the current practice in 1976.

Under his direction, Squire and Partners has won a significant number of design awards, and established a reputation for contemporary crafted developments within sensitive urban locations. Michael has been responsible for the negotiation of numerous planning consents in high profile locations such as Southbank Place, Chelsea Barracks and One Tower Bridge.

Recognised for his design expertise, Michael has been a regular Jury Chair for the RIBA Awards and is a member of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Architecture Appraisal Panel. An active member of The Architecture Club, he has contributed to industry events at the RIBA, New London Architecture and Open City.

Today Michael is one of four partners leading the practice, his 40 years of experience being invaluable in underpinning conceptual design and planning within the office.

The competition is being managed by Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC). An advocate for design excellence, Malcolm has created a unique and trusted competitions service with a dedicated global following among architects and designers. MRC’s clients include top tier cultural and educational and philanthropic organisations in places as diverse as the USA, India, Australia, Lithuania, Ireland, Taiwan, the Gulf and, of course, the UK.

Over the past nine years MRC has run competitions for high-level projects with an estimated capital worth of circa three billion pounds.

Trained as an architect, Malcolm is widely recognised within the profession. He has set new standards in procurement and is known for his loyalty to demanding projects.

Malcolm sits on the Sovereign Grant Audit Committee. He was on the board of Historic Royal Palaces for an unprecedented three terms (2005–2014) and remains chairman of the UNESCO Tower of London World Heritage Site Consultative Committee.

Photo: Vibeke Dahl